ClientSide News Highlights Articles by Hans
Contents
1. A e I oume er N i in ae A ms mae a _ T EIT eee Ti V1 0 Import V1 2 V1 0 Target V1 0 Align V1 0 Source g a x ia V1 5 Source V1 2 Import V1 2 Target ee V2 0 Target and their expectation of localization cost and time is minor too But the localizers never heard of V1 2 so they are comparing V1 5 with V1 0 Both sides are in for a rude awakening The real world of content development is ultimately a distinctly messy place as in figure 2 V2 0 Source It gets worse Often authors don t understand what TM is and how it works Translation Memory is a tool and not Page 8 ClientSide News 1 05 1 0 Target V2 0 Target x X A a particularly sophisticated yg one It isnt automated like Machine Translation MT It A isn t artificially intelligent like certain parts of the Pentagon In fact it doesn t do anything on its own TM doesn t change translation quality per se it just keeps the quality consistent bad or good When you change translation vendors because of translation quality problems and then expect your new vendor to charge less because you provided the TM from the previous vendor you have missed the point entirely Additionally TM does not make up for shortcomings in the source content Bad writing stays bad and inconsistencies stay inconsistent except that they ll be more consistently inconsistent if you know what mean Finally TM falls victi2. all examples are from real content Obvious No information The simplest form of No information is the obvious form This means facts data or concepts that are well known by or self evident to the intended recipients Obvious No information comes in all shapes and sizes From an enterprise software setup guide This guide is designed to assist you in setting up XYZ There are many ways to set up and use XYZ At our company we use XYZ to run our software business which is in some ways similar to many businesses and in some ways very different Notice the company s example of how it uses its own software Even that excludes any real information From a software user guide Using computers within the corporate environment has made it easy to create documents that might contain mission critical information It s difficult to argue with that it s equally difficult to learn anything from it From a UNIX system administrator s guide Place the CD in the CD ROM drive label side up Surely you jest Tautological No information No information can also be camouflaged by truth and accuracy Much to our great chagrin however truth and accuracy are not sufficient or even necessary conditions for information All information is required to do is tell us something we don t know On this score No information tautologies redundant repetitions give real information the widest possible berth To wit From an opera
3. blame the product developers Here is an example of content that suddenly veers away from the expected knowledgebase of the targeted user group the average salesperson and crosses well into IT technical territory Consult your PC documentation to determine your parallel port s mode and change it to ECP or change modes in the BIOS 1 Access the BIOS when the system is booting by pressing a key or key combinations commonly Esc F1 F2 or Del 2 In the BIOS change the setting for the parallel port mode From a scanner user guide don t Know about anyone else out there but as an experienced computer user am extremely reluctant to go fiddling with the BIOS Blithely including these instructions in user documentation looks like an invitation to disaster And you have to wonder how many tech support calls this instruction has generated from confused sales reps who suddenly can t boot their PCs anymore Jargon Let s be clear on this culture problem Terminology is one thing jargon another The former is a set of agreed upon terms used to describe specialized elements in an industry or technical area The latter is the informal casual stuff experts say to each other when they both know exactly what they mean Jargon nearly always can and should be eschewed for its terminological equivalent Take these examples Equivalent e capacity output e Darned if know e in the ballpark e best gd beed e
4. the content workbench 5 445 As you can see content volumization is not inevitable but it is disastrous and costly Like male pattern baldness it s a problem that most people think is less obvious than it actually is If you want get some mousse and give your hair a nice full look but start cutting that content now Hans Fenstermacher is President and founder of ArchiText a language service provider He has developed ABREVE a methodology for reducing volume and globalizing content Every other month Hans will share his insights into the link between authoring and localization in CSN magazine Contact Hans at hansf architext usa com 1 All quoted content in this article comes from real published documentation The identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the perpetrators 2 The table represents actual calculations made by Ben Martin at JD Edwards prior to implementing a radical enterprise wide global content development process 3 Visit http www useit com papers webwriting writing html for a fascinating study on this topic Page 6 ClientSide News 1 05 no stinkin matches Your mother told you never to play with matches but I m guessing your mother never authored or translated technical content In the world of authoring and translation matches are a lot more practical than the ones she was talking about Not only should you play with these matches but in the world of Translation Memory TM
5. Pl Ari Eoi a dE a ABREVE The Next Big Thing in Localization M ore and more client side local ization managers agree What we need next is not more technology but better processes and above all better content The patented ABREVE process from ArchiText addresses exactly this issue by targeting three elements increased content quality usability lower content volume and optimal localization readiness Technology alone does not and will not achieve those goals Content usability depends on fac tors like clarity consistency accuracy ease of use and more But technology cannot determine whether information is easy to understand consistent or simply wrong or unnecessary ABREVE services permit devel opment of content that better meets global users information needs by combining best practices in content development with effective work flows localization expertise propri etary processes and technology Content volume has a huge effect on usability If users cannot find information because there are too many words accuracy and ease of use are irrelevant Word count is also the single biggest factor in localiza tion costs ABREVE targets word count reduction through a series of struc tured steps eliminating redundancies simplifying language and ending the domination of format over content Word count reductions of 25 60 through ABREVE services are rou tin
6. beginning The content must be reviewed even if only by the author laid out processed bookmarks cross references index markers tags etc checked in and out QA finally assembled etc Add it all up and a 5 minute field label rewrite can become a 16 hour company chore as you can see from the accompanying table Figure 1 on next page 2 Of course this applies only to one field label in the first version If there are three new releases per year and 1 000 field labels well you do the math Now consider localization Volumized content is processed by localizers counted compared leveraged etc translated reviewed laid out again processed again checked in and out again QA d finally assembled etc These tasks in localization are done per language so the time to do them multiplies geometrically Looking at the Time column in Figure 1 you see that a simple 5 minute addition for this project actually takes 1 600 times longer than the authoring effort Closely related to wasted time in volumizing content is cost All the extra time spent on the content is of course more expensive Localization costs are based primarily on volume so author bloviation raises content costs dramatically The Cost column in Figure 1 shows that 5 dollars worth of content costs 129 times as much to implement fully in the original language and a whopping 1 089 times as much to implement globally Wow Those are just the direct costs
7. closely related are costs like printing and deployment What if you could reduce a 40 page install guide to a tri fold card Don t smirk I ve done it Imagine the print savings Then imagine more distantly related costs tech support calls marketing communications knowledgebases Web content etc With single sourcing and content automation direct costs may drop by orders of magnitude but the content volume itself is still the driving cost factor Last and stupidly perceived as least is the effect of volumization on usability It goes back to the time squeeze If users must read content Heaven forbid they want the information fast and easy The higher the volume the slower and harder it is to find anything Jakob Nielsen the Web usability guru has performed countless studies to demonstrate one undeniable fact Page 5 ClientSide News 1 05 Content usability and volume are inversely proportional 2 Moreover greater volume almost always means more authoring sessions and more authoring sources This multiplication of inputs raises the chances of human error inconsistencies scattered information and the like lowering usability even more not to mention translation memory effectiveness What can you do about volume No matter what your position in an enterprise technical writer manager VP of product development or CEO do not for one moment assume that content volumization is inevitable Most content costing dec
8. horsepower e cooperates at the software level There is a place for jargon but it isn t in technical content There is something to be said for its use in marketing collateral where precision often takes a backseat to schmoozing with the audience Most of the time technical content is aimed at a much broader audience than just experts and even if it isn t jargon is a son of a gun to localize see what mean Creating uncultured content I mean that in a good way isn t easy but taking a critical look at how we go about it will help us all improve customer experience and smooth out the multilingual content process It has been said that culture is what remains when we forget everything else We would be wise to forget culture leaving it in our yogurt where it belongs and to focus on remembering everything else which is hard enough as it is Hans founded ArchiText in 1994 after a successful 15 year career in technical communication and translation including experience with some of today s industry leaders He started a different kind of company because he realized that localizers were really in the same business as their clients building good communications with customers all over the world Since then Archi Text has grown into a well established provider of localization and multilingual services to Fortune 2000 companies Content Or why technology can t do the job The technical authoring a
9. not They need you to do those things Technology is only one of the tools for content optimization Remember Abraham Maslow s dictum If all you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail The problem of content optimization is complex and the problem requires complex not pie in the sky solutions Content management and single sourcing proponents often hold the view that technology will solve the content optimization problem They seem to think that optimizing the workflow around content is the same thing as optimizing the content itself Anyone who has ever read a user manual however knows that just isn t true Born and raised in Germany Hans is a graduate of Princeton University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy He speaks six languages and has been in the language business for over 29 years A Communication Revolution Is Under Way High performance communication drives successful global organizations And communication is made up of messages crafted by peopl not by technologies systems or workflows Imagine your messages going fi you to your customers better faster Now Imagine a proc gives you all that and sav company money substanti revolutionary savings yol dream about oF Welcome to ABREVE E The power to improve your glc content empower you EN your CEO a Ta f a Fn 3 z D F 2 a_i z bi E _ a i p a
10. that a few words can be just as uninformative as many Colorless green ideas sleep furiously Real volume reduction requires a deep understanding of content How can text be restructured combined and rearranged to make it shorter What information is unnecessary because it is superfluous or redundant remember redundancy is a hallmark of technology Only human beings can answer these questions If fact users also human beings urge us to do so every day by refusing to read the documentation we produce Technology isn t natural Last but not least let us not underestimate human nature Out of the last 2 million years of our evolution Page 15 ClientSide News 1 05 we have spent statistically speaking approximately 0 of that time in the digital age So every technology is designed to mimic the analog world because if something doesn t look and feel natural we won t use it Writing is a deeply analog task and humans fiercely resist writing techniques that aren t natural That s why controlled language hasn t gained much in popularity among technical authors in over 30 years it just runs too deeply against every natural instinct writers have For technology to truly succeed it must feel natural so we will want to use it Has your car ever driven you to work Has your washer ever done the laundry for you Have hardware and software ever gotten together and written a user manual while you weren t looking Of course
11. that run through most content They may take the form of chunky block text or text that describes a graphic in every detail or every imaginable screenshot included just in case The primal urge to document everything seems to be too hard for many to resist It is exactly inversely proportional to the urge to resist reading it however Finally we have the ultimately unforgivable transgression of bloviation Why do writers write For more in depth information about this topic please refer to when See will do Must we really tell users To use this product to its fullest potential you must think about how its abilities apply to your particular organization Is there a system administrator alive who feels informed by The interface is the mechanism through which you view enter and interact with the information stored in the database think not Page 4 ClientSide News 1 05 What s so bad about volume anyway Content volumization has horrible consequences in three main areas that every organization battles constantly time cost and usability These are interrelated of course but even taken individually they are shocking in their deleteriousness Time is in short supply yet we waste it at every turn in content development Notwithstanding Pascal s truism making more content usually takes longer particularly from a global not just multilingual viewpoint Authoring a piece of content is actually only the
12. you could get burned not playing with matches Matchmaking a Quick Primer In TM jargon matches refer to segments of text that are the same or similar to previously identified segments of text Once a segment is translated the segment pair source target languages is stored in a database the TM Later when an identical segment appears the TM is called up and you can leverage the translation from memory You ve met your match so to speak Matches come in several shapes and sizes Identical matches 100 are just that entirely identical to a previous segment For example the segment To continue click Next is a 100 match with To continue click Next When segments don t match completely math enters the picture but it s fuzzy in addition to the Internet Al Gore claims to have invented TM Non 100 matches are fuzzy matches For example To continue click Next versus To continue click the Next button The latter segment matches the former at a given percentage say 70 which is calculated differently depending on a the TM program you re using b the segmentation rules used c the weather d all of the above matches we con ft need By Hans Fenstermacher why content authors should care about TM Segments that are 100 matches with other segments in the source language are called internal repetitions These are like regular TM type 100 matches only they re missing their target langua
13. British Empire have no trouble fathoming this But what about say Germans Intellectually the concept of a mile is probably well enough understood but viscerally it s a non starter The literally minded will concoct something like Funfmal warum und _ 1 6 Kilometer Denken but that little absurdity evokes little more than laughter These concepts would need total cultural adaptation in each target language in order to make any sense Rephrase them though and the problem goes away Understanding the Causes of the Problem as a suggestion When culture problems occur in technical content they take many forms some more obvious than others Universally however they feel awkward in the source language and in localization they invariably become pronounced and problematic in terms of the mechanics of translation or usability or both Here are a few types Over specification Precision is the hallmark of technical writing so what could be more precise than being as specific as possible Being less specific for one There are times when slightly less precision actually makes things easier to understand and avoids a culture problem Insert the unit in the opening Leave about 3 16 of an inch of space between the back of the unit and the wall From a hardware installation guide How much is about 3 16 of an inch How about 2 16 Half an inch How would you measure that anyway The problem gets worse when you loc
14. GLOBALIZATION INTERNATIONALIZATION LOCALIZATION TRANSLATION Intelligence for Global Business TECH WRITER Volumizing Good for Hair Not for Content a Os s ey i TECH WRITER Why Content Authors Should Care About IM i 3 Ta LPM CORNER Why Technology Can t Do the Job The Business Journal ee for GILT Professionals 9 95 US oh 12 95 CAN 9 95 EURO in this issue 10 13 17 i Oaai a nF x 7 n pps f pe E dj l i i F i i ee P i i Ca i J ks ai f i i Jj a Ti a a A 7 r i a i 2004 Tech Writing Supplement Volume 4 Issue S2 about the tech writing issue publisher s note focus supplement article 1 volumizing good for hair not for content article 2 why content authors should care about TM article 3 food for thought article 4 why technology can t do the job article 5 no Information like No Information Page 2 ClientSide News 1 05 By Shaun P Daggett CSN Publisher S S U e the tech writing focus supplement In the summer of 2003 CSN and GALA had a one day session in Denver to discuss the needs of clients and how service providers could meet those needs CSN invited leading clients from its Chief Globalization Officer Board and GALA invited the heads of leading technology companies and leading service providers to attend It was a great sessio
15. able to perform this function on its own Or the rule requiring that every possible screenshot in a procedure be displayed whether there s anything to do or see in it or not ugh Templates should exist to provide a framework for content authors not a straightjacket Templates should be tight enough to keep information from falling all over the place but loose enough to allow common sense to fit in And when say common sense mean the end user s common sense not the writer s can you imagine any normal user complaining about a missing stem sentence Here for your delectation is an example of No information served on a template Chapter 1 Installing the XYZ Ata Glance Purpose This chapter describes how to install and set up the XY It also lists the system requirements for installation and setup In this Chapter This chapter contains the following topics e System requirements e Installing the ETA Setting up the EYZ Naturally the guide also contains a complete table of contents and index It s also noteworthy that the bulleted list for In this Chapter does not consist of cross references but re keyed entries Go figure Conclusion No doubt there are other types of No information While they may seem harmless even amusing do not be fooled No information is a threat to the usability and cost of all technical content Authors should take pains to eliminate it ruthlessly The rewards will be grea
16. alize What happens to this in metric units Leave about 4 8 mm of space is ridiculous Page 11 ClientSide News 1 05 Hans will be attending the 2005 CSN Expo in New Orleans Louisiana March 31 April 1 If you would like to meet with Hans during the CSN Expo please contact Chad LaCroix at chad architext usa com to schedule a meeting Should you round to 5 mm Now we re back to How much is about 5mm and How would you measure that What the writer meant of course was Make sure the unit does not touch the wall Well why didn t she just say that Patronization Closely related to over specification is information that ends up patronizing the user Take the case of a specific task aimed at a clearly defined user group For example a UNIX system installation aimed at UNIX system administrators Step 1 Insert the CD into the CD ROM drive tray label side up From a UNIX system administrator install guide Unless the target readership is under the mental age of eight this over specification is insulting Not only that it uses more words to make the point which adds work and cost for localization Inappropriate information A culture problem often develops when content includes information that simply doesn t belong This can happen in many ways but usually either when the user group is poorly defined at the outset blame the writers or information is forced into the content by other stakeholders
17. aracteristics that are typical of a particular group of people Usually a culture is also distinguished by language so it s natural in the context of localization to view culture problems as linguistic ones One way to globalize technical content therefore is to remove things that specifically refer to a culture mom baseball apple pie that sort of thing Often that s pretty easy to do apple pie doesn t tend to figure prominently in technical writing Trouble is this traditional concept of culture only partially addresses deep globalization problems that can bedevil content To identify and overcome these problems you need to have a much broader understanding of what culture is What is culture In technical content culture should be defined as anything that creates unnecessary bias in favor of a particular user group Let s take this definition apart to understand all its implications First culture is bias slanting the text in a contextual direction that only its intended audience understands Bias works like a secret handshake between the writer and specific readers The right use of type can make the difference between your message being understood and it being bounced off the cubicle wall for two points into the trash From online help for a font management utility or thought By Hans Fenstermacher Leave Culture in Your Yogurt and Out of Your Content This sentence speaks squarely to male window
18. at can be used in many contexts not just one The segment Do not let wires block panels is much less reusable than Do not block panels Introduce screenshots with The following window appears and you ll stop caring once and for all how many times the developers change the window titles Genericize Learn to prefer less specificity when it won t create confusion Change Use the Print option to Use the print option and neither you nor the localizers will have to look up Print in the UI again There s no need to state the number in The three types of networks are If the number of types changes in the next release and you can bet it will this is one edit you won t have to make Come to think of it your mother was right She wanted to keep you from getting burned But go ahead and play with TM matches tone down those verbal pyrotechnics The next time a localizer asks Got a match You can say with confidence Yeah my content and yours Hans is founder and president of Archi Text Inc Archi l ext specializes in localization globalization and end to end global content solutions based on ABREVE For more information on ArchiText or ABREVE please contact Chad LaCroix Sales Coordinator Tel 1 978 409 6112 or toll free 1 800 688 7205 chad architext usa com http www architext usa com OOQ When you think of a culture you usually picture ethnic national religious or geographic ch
19. e and those reductions translate directly into an improved return on investment in localization see graph Today s content development approaches are not generally designed to meet the challenges of localization ABREVES focuses on making content ready for its path through localization by removing obstacles like inconsis tent terminology optimizing tool use through more 100 matches and anticipating downstream work with optimized graphics and formatting Because ABREVE is not tied to a particular tool it can improve any technology based workflow whether it includes CMS TM or MT And because the ABREVE procses tar gets the inputs into the content deployment process rather than outputs it can achieve equally dra matic results with in house contract or offshore content development strategies For information on ABREVE based services case studies metrics and testimonials contact ArchiText at abreve architext usa com or toll free at 1 800 688 7205 400 000 A ae m With ABREVE Without ABREVE 300 000 250 000 200 000 p N O U Cc O N U O 150 000 100 000 50 000 10 7 8 9 Number of Target Languages Create Integrate Communicate Alaatoa www architext usa com like no info Content authors are in the information business Their jobs are to create archi
20. ge pairs But you know you will be able to leverage them after you translate the first instance Segments that are not 100 fuzzy or internal repetitions are new meaning they must be translated from scratch So it stands to reason that the less new material you have the less costly and time consuming translation should be In the localization game matches increase in cost starting at 100 internal reps least expensive moving to fuzzy more expensive there can be multiple levels of fuzzy and then on to new matches most expensive You still can get burned In the ideal world translation memory single sourcing and 100 matches grow and converge generally gamboling together in perfect sparkling harmony See figure 1 It s a beautiful thing Figure 1 Sparkling perfect harmony V1 0 Source V2 0 Source If youre counting on seeing this rosy picture a lot however you re probably delusional Why For starters there is a failure to communicate Amazingly content authors and localizers so called specialists in communication do very little actual communicating When authors make changes in the source language without corresponding updates on the target side the content becomes misaligned This could happen for instance if authors create an interim version say V1 2 that does not get localized then decide to localize V1 5 some time later The V1 5 update is minor Figure 2 Distinctly messy place
21. he angry e mail I m about to get That is after all the ultimate goal of single sourcing Want to demonstrate some real value Don t write Reuse TM is another place where money and usability are perfectly matched can t stop the puns Translation memory thrives on consistency as do users Creating reusable 100 matches like Insert the CD Enter these values and Contact your sales representative is financially sound and they offer consistent cues to users who are grateful not to have to struggle with rampant synonyms or stylistic hobgoblins worthy of Emerson A match made in heaven What s a globally minded author to do then Here are a few tips for moving your content much closer to localization nirvana Enough with synonyms Broaden your definition of terminology to include phrases and don t deviate from them The following are unnecessary fuzzy matches log in vs log on online mode vs online state click the Date Time button vs lick the Date Time button it may be just a typo but fuzzy is fuzzy folks Quit fooling with formatting Reusing content and then changing its formatting can dramatically lower your match hit rate like putting a pair of fuzzy dice in a Ferrari The following are not 100 matches Click the Next button vs Click the Next button Press the lt CR gt lt LF gt right arrow vs Press the right arrow the Print option vs the print option Really single source Create segments th
22. isions today are based on the mistaken assumption that volume is a constant If that s the case the thinking goes why not apply the lowest cost factor possible Meanwhile jobs march inevitably offshore All this does is lower production costs for now a defensible result only in the short term The content that results from this effort is at best no better than before and usually much worse and longer Offshoring may reduce content production costs but it can actually raise localization costs and time offsetting some offshoring gains With volumization no longer inevitable in your mind take the right steps to solve the problem you actually have If you think technology is the solution to your problem then you either don t have a problem unlikely or you don t really know what your problem is Volume is a process problem it is a people problem Technology will not solve the problem not any more than buying a new refrigerator will make your great aunt s fruitcake disappear Reducing the volume of content starts with changing authors conceptions habits drivers and skills It is not an event but a lifestyle change Start connecting content development and localization more closely Assemble both teams regularly to discuss problems Create a feedback loop in both directions Exchange metrics see below Empower teams to solve real problems maybe even in the product itself Wow again Cross train people in single sou
23. less office workers who are basketball fans Everybody else is out of luck The second key element in the definition of culture is that the bias is unnecessary Let s face it sometimes the right kind of bias is critical to successful content A user guide for a sophisticated statistical software package can darn well assume that its readers know a thing or two about statistics But slanting content unnecessarily is culturally inappropriate and simply detracts See example below NOTE It is important for you to go through each option in the International Preferences window in order Why Good question Well you want to be sure that you make all changes necessary For example if you change the language to Spanish you do not want the Units option to remain US English In Spain they use the metric system Everything needs to match This presumptive chumminess personally with this talking cracker I think we ve entered a weird area here is completely gratuitous adding cultural overtones that undermine the seriousness and clarity of the material It will never work in other languages Page 10 ClientSide News 1 05 Finally the broader definition of culture in technical content singles out a particular user group for the bias For example it may appeal with a wink and a nod to national or linguistic affinity The 5 Whys and Mile deep Thinking From a 6 Sigma training guide Residents in the current or former
24. ls to understand that users do not read sequentially and that other content devices already play whatever minimal bridging role may be needed For instance bold headers in a different typeface that visibly introduce the next topic Here are some classic bridges From a software user guide The next section describes how to manage files Followed by the subhead Managing Files This topic ending sentence is usually more useful to the writer as a mental sticky note about what s next too bad it can t be removed as easily From an anti virus software guide Creating a Schedule to Update XYZ Creating a schedule to update XYZ is a simple procedure followed by two steps Two steps qualify as simple in anyone s book Why it s necessary to introduce and characterize the two steps is beyond me No information on a tem plate The last No information type like the previous one has a single minded purpose impose structure at all costs This goal is usually handily accomplished including the cost part by allowing a predefined template to control content decisions Overly rigid templates can turn real information into No information For instance take the rule of following every header with a stem sentence an introduction Many times this results in saying the same thing again Then there s the rule that every table must be formally announced by a descriptive sentence any self respecting table title ought to be
25. m like everything else in our society to over reliance on technology This tool is dumb For instance TM for that matter MT cannot resolve ambiguities the segment can fish meaning can catch fish is a 100 match with can fish meaning put fish in cans but they obviously are not the same thing Additionally fuzzy matches only reveal similarities in terms of keystrokes the segment Check whether the file is corrupt and unusable is 100 different from The file is corrupt and unusable but TM will see a 75 match And TM has no way of telling that From the File menu select Print is 100 identical in meaning to Choose the print option in the File menu which is well below 50 match and therefore considered new Prevention Why should content authors care about all this There are many reasons but here are the two most important money and usability As we have established 100 What s a globally minded author to do then There are a few tips for moving your content much closer to matches are the least expensive translation option So the ideal multilingual content process like the classic perfect baseball game is one in which nothing happens That is there is no new text written or translated every bit of content comes from somewhere else The perfect author by extension spends all his her time assembling content segments not writing Hold on a minute while increase my disk space for all t
26. n with lots of meaningful dialog from both sides In the end no single localization solution technology or service stood out as a leader Each avenue explored came full circle back to content creation the source If you could reduce the number of words in the source language clients would gain the time to market and cost savings they are so desperately seeking We did find one thing that gave clients immediate tangible time and cost gains and this was the one solution that came out of this meeting Of course CSN was interested in covering solutions that clients could tap into immediately And ABREVE met the need Page 3 ClientSide News 1 05 ABREVE was developed by Hans Fenstermacher Chairman of GALA and President and founder of ArchiText a leading language service provider It is a methodology for reducing volume and globalizing content that ArchiText has combined with its localization capability to create a patent pending end to end localization process This was exactly what we were looking for and Hans s insights on this subject have been the source for each of the Tech Writing Focus articles CSN has published throughout 2004 This supplement is a compilation of all those articles This has been no small feat for Hans and through his efforts our entire industry has benefited CSN extends our thanks and gratitude for these great pieces of work now he can add author to his long list of accomplishment
27. nd localization industry seems to focus on technology as the primary solution to most problems In a way who can blame us After all the high tech sector generally has been the leader in innovation Our industry tools have significantly boosted productivity and efficiency Now that content optimization looms large as the next big problem to tackle many of us are naturally depending on technology to solve this problem too Unfortunately were headed for frustration Technology cannot lead the content optimization mission because the biggest problems in content aren t technical When it comes to content technology has fundamental shortcomings The sooner we realize this truth the better we will be able to solve the challenges before us in real ways Let s look at some of those shortcomings Technology can t resolve ambiguity Natural language the primary medium for all content is full of ambiguity Technical authors do everything they can to avoid it but they don t always succeed Take this sentence The label is on either side of the drum This could mean that there are two labels one on each side of the drum or it could mean there is only one label which may be on one side of the drum or the other Without more information either interpretation is correct but both cannot be Side note This example comes from real documentation When asked which interpretation was correct the author responded I don t know The
28. nically perhaps error free but it cannot make content informative Only a human editor knows what this sentence really needs to cease to exist Technology doesn t care about usability Technology doesn t even know what usability is Tools that manage content structure and workflow are designed to follow rules ironically rules that must be created by human beings the outcomes of which are binary yes no allowed prohibited accepted rejected 1 0 But usability isn t binary it s full of complex issues like context exceptions interpretations and so on The creators of content humans are not binary and the recipients of content humans are not binary Why would we expect the binary technology in between to ensure usability Usability requires understanding who the recipients o f information are and what they need Consider again the payroll run sentence all the binary rules may be followed precisely for formulating this information but only the creators and recipients know that the information is useless usability 0 No technology is actually intelligent enough to delete this sentence Technology can t restructure content Content structure is a key to its usability One of the critical tasks technical authors perform is analyzing and organizing information to make it usable Technology simply can t do that Take this example To embed a graphic in a text document you must open the object in its native applicati
29. of the magazine or ClientSide News ClientSide News is not responsible for loss damage or other injury to manuscripts or other materials good for hair bad for content Lite in the 21st century centers around information In practically every waking moment we create information we receive it we process it we pass it on we ignore it but most of all we need it Those who process information for a living appear to have developed a relentless informational imperative if it can be written it must be written Thus many content developers fall into volumizing their content instead of preparing it for the global workflow and for end users Where does it all come from Technology has long had its own imperative so products offer an abundance of choice which we document equally abundantly For example The first step in creating a format from an existing file or folder is to create a new graphic FRM file by either clicking the New icon from the What To Do section of the Getting Started page and then clicking the Standard frm icon from the Default template tab as shown in the following image or clicking New from the File menu or clicking the down arrow on the New icon from the left side of the Standard toolbar and clicking Format Products also must do more and more to ostensibly please a demanding public Thus features are continuously added Naturally these features are documented in abundance or and
30. on remove all font information for example converting fonts to outlines and save the file in JPEG format Then in the text document place your cursor where you want the graphic and use Import to insert the JPEG file you just created This highly unreadable dare say off putting text block becomes usable with good structure To embed a graphic in a text document 1 Open the object in its native application 2 Remove all font information for example convert fonts to outlines 3 Save the file in JPEG format 4 Open the text document 5 Place your cursor where you want the graphic 6 Use Import to insert the JPEG file you just created Technical authors apply these techniques almost instinctively but tools don t have a clue Technology can t self correct Tools are very precise that is their strength Tools also rely on precision implicitly that is their weakness All content processed by tools originates from a human being and human beings are by nature imprecise This imprecision frequently exceeds technology s tolerances but it s far less of a problem for other humans How many animals of each type did Moses take on the ark with him The correct answer is none because it was Noah who built the ark not Moses Many of you though undoubtedly self corrected that error without even knowing it Hans developed ABREVE in response to an expressed need for new ways to reduce localization cos
31. r Page 18 ClientSide News 1 05 The writer felt the need to explain that closing is something you do to things that are open and that open programs are those that are running on a computer Presumably Close all programs would have been just too short and obviously ill mannered S amp M style No information In today s competitive marketplace there is an imperative to constantly reinforce product advantage and superiority Here No information digs in its stiletto S amp M heels umm that s Sales amp Marketing Most user content is created to accompany products that have already been sold Why then do content authors insist on reinforcing the wisdom of the user s purchasing decision This form of No information comes in small occurrences through editorializing adjectives or judgmental interjections such as Welcome or Thank you Or Congratulations or even in lengthy paeans to the product Either way S amp M No information adds cost and time to every phase of content development and then robs the end user of his or her anticipated reward information Note this example from a printing system guide Welcome The XYZ User Guide was created to provide you with information and demonstrate the key features of the XYZ application XYZ is a robust state of the art system for bulleted list Does anyone ever read that stuff Hans is also founding Chairman of the Board of the Globalization and Localiza
32. rcing translation memory TM tools authoring tools etc The siloed nature of both content development and localization creates huge obstacles to efficiency and cost effectiveness You can t fix what you can t measure so measure everything Then focus on the metrics for the right things word count page count graphics count screenshots time on task staff costs touch points These paint the true picture of content Then multiply those metrics by your expected multilingual workflow A company know calculated that their production cost for incorporating a single screenshot in a single language was 15 Their localization requirement currently stands at 19 languages One manual for one of their products contains 300 screenshots Again leave you to do the Instances Time Cost Programmer 5 min rewriting i label 0 083 60 hr research writing editing Writer 40 hr in to locate in multiple locations Editor 40 hr in of disgust i in writing editing to locate in multiple locations research writing editing Localizer 40 hr to locate in multiple locations math How much do screenshots cost in your organization If you don t know you just touched your real problem Finally you must absolutely must think globally not just multilingually Connect content development with your other business processes tech support product development marketing human resources
33. re is no technology or tool that can resolve this kind of ambiguity because human beings can t resolve it either The sentence is grammatically correct it may even be terminologically correct but it isn t unequivocal For translators this means they must choose one of the two interpretations Given this 50 50 probability it s likely that half the translations will be wrong timization By Hans Fenstermacher Technology doesn t understand anything Another thing technology can t do is actually think Tools often give the impression that they are thinking but they are merely comparing things occurrences odds rules etc Consider the following sentence The main purpose of the payroll run is to calculate employee pay correctly at regular intervals From this sentence a content analysis tool might understand that payroll run is a process that this process involves an action calculate employee pay and that this action occurs with some frequency at regular intervals Fine But what the tool doesn t know is that this sentence is completely uninformative to actual human beings anyone who s ever held a regular paying job knows what the purpose of a payroll run is Page 13 ClientSide News 1 05 By not understanding what it is processing technology fails to tackle one of the most fundamental problems in content optimization usability Technology can make content consistent more uniform more structured and tech
34. s in this industry riIiIicNT l Ir TY k oe Ee S rm LF L kI Faia W fi f ri w I T Bee FT x intelligence for in sloba business ClientSide News Magazine is produced exclusively by ClientSide Publications 517 South Baldwin Street Suite 100 Woodland Park CO 80863 USA Phone 719 686 8759 FAX 719 623 0394 Publisher Shaun P Daggett sdaggett clientsidenews com Advertising Sales 801 545 8816 adsales clientsidenews com Send information and editorial submissions to editor clientsidenews com Send press releases to news clientsidenews com publication amp membership ClientSide News is published monthly by ClientSide Publications a division of ClientSide News LLC Annual subscriptions to ClientSide News Magazine are FREE to CSN Members Contact CSN headquarters for mem bership information The mission of ClientSide News Magazine is to facilitate the exchange of information among professionals on the client side of the globalization internationalization localization and translation industry to bring forward information and solutions to serve as a forum for discussion of emerging trends and issues to deliver intelligence for global business 2004 ClientSide News LLC All rights reserved CSN and the CSN logo are service and trade marks registered in the United States and other nations Published articles and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views
35. t for themselves and more importantly for the rest of us Page 19 ClientSide News 1 05
36. tect design write localize deliver and ultimately consume information They relentlessly meet the voracious demands of the Information Age but they also have become purveyors of a kind of information twaddle call it No information why beat around the bush that threatens the quality of their work To understand No information let s first be clear on what information is Like obscenity information is hard to define but also like obscenity we tend to recognize it when we see it Simply put information is that which tells us something we didn t already know No information on the other hand looks feels and sounds a lot like information No information requires the Same amount of time resources and development as information No information additionally takes the same amount of resources time and money to localize And end users will likely give No information the same amount of attention and time as real information there s no info By Hans Fenstermacher Come to think of it No information is exactly like regular information in every respect except one it doesn t inform you of anything witness the very first sentence in this article No information is treacherous because it takes away time resources money and attention from everyone who touches it It s also exasperating to end users who instinctively recognize it for what it is not informative Here are some of the many forms No information can take
37. tion Association GALA Founded in 2002 GALA is a fully representative non profit international industry association for the translation internationalization localization and globalization community Templates should exist to provide a framework for content authors not a straightjacket Templates should be tight enough to keep information from falling all over the place but loose enough to allow common sense to fit in y Bridge over the River No information No information also stems from the urges in all content authors for logic and structure One of the most common is the bridging urge the desire to smooth over perceived abrupt shifts in a linear thought process This urge is admirable provided the writing is being graded by a teacher on the use of the topic sentence But in the real world of technical content linearity is often unnecessary impossible or even disruptive End users do not live in a world of narrative prose that must make sense from cover to cover theirs is a jumble of context sensitive help reference material and troubleshooting where content is expected to be self contained and usable in chunks Technical authors demonstrate their bridging urge through self imposed segues that link topics through introductions designed to avoid mental jack rabbit starts and through summaries softly placed to prevent user whiplash when a topic ends This bridging No information fai
38. tor s guide Using other settings may cause very random and unpredictable results Except possibly for the subtlest of distinctions among persnickety statisticians random and unpredictable is a redundant repetition Furthermore the qualification of random with very is gilding the lily to say the least From a modem user guide This modem provides reliable data communication to meet a variety of needs By definition modems provide data communication presumably doing so reliably Sadly the exact nature of the variety of needs this modem meets is left to our overactive imaginations No information once again with feeling The expansive repertoire of No information includes another form similar to the first two above Here previously known information or even previously known No information is freshly restated as if this new presentation would somehow magically infuse the No information with meaning Generally this phenomenon is attributed to a lack of editing a get out of jail free card that technical writers produce far too readily and far too often but it may actually originate in the writer s primal urge to find the real meaning that they know deep down isn t there Header from a hardware guide Troubleshooting Problems Does the product unusually require troubleshooting those things that work properly From any software user guide Close any open software programs that are running on your compute
39. training and so on Where does content originate Where does it go How is it tracked from release to release Calculate the life cycle of products the number of releases planned and how the product will change How does all this affect the metrics usability and workflow for content development Like product development understanding these links and planning are the keys to less but more effective content The worst thing your teams can do is just start writing Metrics are critical to global thinking but failing to measure the right things can lead you astray Companies usually have exact localization metrics more irony here because localizers live and die by metrics especially TM percentages Too often though organizations fall into the TM trap letting leveragability drive their content decisions instead of the other way around Ignoring usability I don t recommend it th value of leveraged TM is just a metric like any other The decision to rewrite content reduce volume and improve usability should include but never be driven exclusively by TM percentages Most organizations however do just that P 8 hours 320 a 16 083 hours 120 hours 320 x 15 languages a 136 083 hours 4 800 and it will prevent them from ever getting out of the content volumization spiral As Abraham Maslow said If all you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail TM is not and should not be your only tool on
40. trust the reader will note the irony here how else would anyone know the features are even there Virtually no part of our lives in the Information Age is unscathed by the time squeeze least of all content development efforts Blaise Pascal once wrote in French This letter is longer only because did not have the leisure to make it shorter Precisely We no longer have the leisure to make content efficient and shorter We settle for quantity over quality Witness the demise of editing at nearly every level of content development and localization volumizing Volume manifests itself in both obvious and devilishly sneaky ways Take for example that bugbear of technical writing the template This is one of the more insidious ways content becomes volumized A template by definition calls for rigid adherence to principles which are usually created in a vacuum or at least a classroom To wit Minimum System Requirements Make sure your system meets the following minimum requirements The template here calls for a bridging sentence between the header and the bulleted list below Good order a k a tradition is preserved but if you smell a rat you ve got a better nose than most technical writers All this template does is make the user read the same thing twice and increase the cost to create and localize the content more about that later Then there are the San Andreas sized structural faults
41. ts while preserving the integrity of content ABREVE addresses these issues directly while improving the content s usability ABREVE is a patent pending methodology that enables low risk step changes that can provide drastic localization cost reductions Technology is only one of the tools for content optimization Remember Abraham Maslow s dictum If all you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail Authors of technical content are trained to be as precise as possible but nobody s perfect Minor errors are quite commonplace as these examples show corrections provided in parentheses e Then lick the Date Time Stamp button click e The air damn directs the airflow air dam e You must not turn off the printer now Relying on spell checkers which also demand complete precision cannot save the above or countless other examples of misinformation Incidentally after localization this information can no longer be self corrected by readers because the cause of the imprecision is literally lost in translation Technology can t reduce volume Strictly speaking tools can limit volume by imposing constraints Proponents of text analysis and processing tools say that volume limits demonstrate the value of the technology you know maximum 7 words per sentence that kind of thing But artificial limits do little to optimize content The philosopher Bertrand Russell famously showed
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